Tag: networking


My Turbulent Love Affair With Digital-Event Networking

I have been a loyal and passionate disciple of networking for all of my adult life. I have spent decades learning, speaking and writing about it. Yet when our world was turned upside down last March, and all meaningful connection with everyone was forced into a digital world, I suddenly felt like I lost my … [Read more…]

Key Takeaways from PCMA’s Convening Leaders 2020

The Professional Convention Management Association’s Convening Leaders in San Francisco In early January served as an engaging and energizing way to kick off a new year and a new decade. I’ve been a regular attendee and active volunteer in PCMA for over 25 years and continue to be impressed at their willingness to take risks … [Read more…]

Conferences Need More Sharing

One of the strongest intangible attributes of a healthy conference is how much sharing takes place. Too often, competition and self-interest get in the way of sharing what’s most helpful. Professions that deliver conference sessions with a high level of sharing – not diluted or generalized from the stage – are often in fields linked … [Read more…]

The Crisis of Connection

We’re lonely. And not just a little lonely. We’re experiencing a global epidemic level of loneliness. Last week, the U.K. appointed Tracey Crouch as the Minister of Loneliness after the British parliament released a five-year study on loneliness that found more than 9 million people in the country reported they often or always feel lonely. … [Read more…]

Your Conference Needs To Focus On Providing 4D Experiences

Conferences need 4D experiences: deep learning, deep play, deep reflection and deep connections. You probably recall a time in your life when you viewed a 3D movie. You wore 3D glasses and the images looked like they popped out of the screen. Your conference needs more than the gimmick of 3D glasses. It needs authentic … [Read more…]

How Conference Networking Improves Participants’ Brain Health [Webinar May 11]

Brain science research continues to prove that our brains function best when we’re engaged in meaningful We-centric conversations. We are a highly social species. This research illustrates our need to design conferences that promote deeper and more meaningful conversations, especially in our networking. These We-centric conversations, as organizational anthropologist and author Judith Glaser states, move … [Read more…]

Disrupting Our Own Conference Learning Models [Webinar]

The demands of our 21st Century conference participants mandate that we change our traditional event experience. Today’s workforce requires that our participants interact, think and work in collaborative ways. Yet our conferences persistently promote expert-directed, one-way passive monologues and panel dialogues. Our conferences continue to resemble the routines of the 19th and 20th century school. … [Read more…]

Innovators Network Differently

After studying a whole bunch of professional conferences, it’s very clear to me what separates a thriving event from one on life support. For multi-day conferences, a growing number register and return because of who else will be there. Our attendees have more choices than ever for professional development and acquiring purchasing intelligence. Today, it’s … [Read more…]

The Future Conference Is About Increasing Attendees’ ROI

The future conference is not about the environment, the furniture, the venue, the audio visual or the technology. The future conference is about increasing the paying attendee’s ROI. The future conference is about helping the attendee transfer and apply their conference learning to their job. Actually, the fundamental job of future conferences is threefold: To … [Read more…]